Telling the Truth
by Luciana Surana
Summary: A short story following Broken Ritual: You faced hordes of darkspawn, the Archdemon, demons in the Fade, werewolves, golems, then why is telling Alistair the truth so hard? The characters, world and any other associations belong to BioWare.


Telling the Truth:

Laurel walked into her room, cradling a tired Morrigan in her arms. Morrigan yawned as Laurel placed her gently in her cot, which was next to their bed. Alistair walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, Morrigan was a small child, but she was only two, but her hair had started to grow, and she looked a lot like Witch of the Wilds, even at this early age. Alistair had always been curious as to why but Laurel always tried to avoid the subject, she felt guilty, she always wanted to tell him, but she could never find the right time. She ran a series of conversation starters, and how to approach this situation, then she thought to herself,

_You faced hordes of darkspawn, the Archdemon, demons in the Fade, werewolves, golems, then why is telling Alistair the truth so hard?_

She then realised, she loves him so much, she doesn't want to hurt his feelings, but she did that when she swapped children, but he didn't realise. Alistair took his hands from around Laurel's waist, she turned to face him, he was a good four inches taller than her, he was 6"3 and she was 5"11, Laurel was incredibly tall, her parents were baffled as to where she and Fergus got it from, because they were both taller than their parents.

"Alistair, I need to tell you something," Laurel sighed,

"Is everything okay?" He asked, Laurel shrugged,

"Depends on your opinion of what I'm about to tell you," Alistair remained silent, "You remember that ritual you did with Morrigan?" Alistair nodded, a shudder coarsing through him, "Well, she had her child on the same day as me, as you know the Darkspawn taint entered my child and-" She fought back the tears, and gulped down the rising lump in her throat, she didn't know why this was so hard, "I thought about it, I wouldn't have known what to do with it, what power it possessed, it wasn't the child I wanted, so I..." She sighed, "So I gave him to Morrigan, and... She gave me hers, that's why she looks so much like her, I'm so sorry Alistair," A tear started to run down her cheek, she could see the pain in Alistair's eyes, she felt awful, he blinked once before leaving the room. Laurel didn't even bother to stop him, he had every right to leave the room, maybe even leave her. She sat on the floor and cried quietly for hours, desperately trying not to wake Morrigan. But she started to choke on her tears, and that woke Morrigan up, she started to cry, Laurel stood up and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. She picked Morrigan gently up, and started to sing to her gently, Morrigan smiled sleepily her eyes started to droop, Laurel smiled and gently stroked her hair. Alistair walked back into the room, his eyes red and blotchy, Laurel looked across at him, fearing the worst. Laurel handed Morrigan over to Alistair, his face warmed and his eyes twinkled, but he couldn't face Laurel.

"Why?" A single word, Alistair uttered.

"I was scared, what if the child turned evil because of my lack of understanding? Maybe the child could save the world in Morrigans' hands and in mine the world turns to chaos? I had nightmares Alistair, didnt know what to do," She sighed, "You probably hate me, I'll understand if you want me to leave," She continued. Alistair shook his head,

"I could never hate you, I just wish you could have told me, I felt like dirt, you didn't tell me that you were giving away my child, I didn't even get to see... it." He sighed,

"Him, it was a boy, I didn't even get to see his eyes," She started to weep, "I'm so sorry Alistair, I should never had done it," Alistair gently placed Morrigan back in her cot and held Laurel close.

"You made a difficult decision, I would have done the same in your position," He lifted her head and kissed her on the lips.

"I don't deserve you, Alistair," Laurel stated.

"Kin," A little voice said, Alistair and Laurel looked around, "King!" The voice was small, like a childs, Laurel walked over to Morrigan's cot just as she said, "King!"

"Alistair! Look!" Laurel said, he turned around to see her say again, Alistair smiled warmly. Laurel started to say Mum to her, whilst Alistair said Dad. Morrigan, however said,

"Dum! Mad!" Laurel and Alistair laughed,

"We'll have to work on that one," Alistair smiled.

"Oh! There's something I need to tell you," Laurel said, wiping away her tears, Alistair turned to look at her, "I'm pregnant," She smiled. Alistair embraced her tightly.

"I've been thinking about names, for a boy, and I thought, Duncan," Alistair said, Laurel smiled and nodded,

"Duncan it is then," She smiled,

"Wait, it's a boy?" Alistair asked, Laurel nodded, Alistair squeezed even tighter. "I love you, no, I adore you," Alistair smiled warmly,

"I love, no, adore you too," Laurel replied, she looked up into his green eyes and he looked into her blue ones, Alistair kissed her, Laurel put her hand behind his head and kissed him back. In this moment, they couldn't have felt happier.


End file.
